The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization on June 6 released the highlights of their global agriculture forecast, which included predictions of China's future agricultural production and consumption patterns through 2022. According to the forecast, soybean imports, which have already increased from 10 million metric tons in 2000 to roughly 59 million metric tons in 2012, are expected to increase by 40 percent by 2022. Corn imports, which began increasing in 2009, are also expected to climb steadily over the next decade. This is in part due to dietary changes resulting from urbanization and increases in income. The increase in imports runs counter to China's goal of self-sufficiency (achieved by meeting 95 percent of consumption requirements for corn, wheat and rice domestically) in agriculture. An adjustment in the self-sustainability policy will likely be necessary given the central strategy of closing the rural-urban divide.
